The greatest vice of all
Ethics and the Olympics
by Simon Longstaff
Like nearly everyone else, I have been at a loss to explain Kevin Gosper's confessed lapse of judgement in allowing his daughter to be the first Australian to carry the sacred flame in the Olympic Torch Relay.
Having spent some time with Gosper, while working to establish the IOC Ethics Commission, I believe him to be genuinely committed to the task of restoring the credibility of the Olympic Movement by giving new life to the tarnished but noble ideals on which it is founded. Beyond this, he must be acutely aware of the intense scrutiny that is focused on every action of the IOC and especially its senior members. A cynical media is ready to pounce on even the slightest hint of hypocrisy and use it as evidence against the IOC and a reform program that is still open to question.
Finally, Gosper is a leading candidate for election to the post of IOC President. So, why did he risk bringing the Olympic Movement into disrepute? More importantly, why could he not see the obvious risk to his daughter – until it was too late.
Given what I know of the man, I am tempted to think that there is more to the story than we have been told or are every likely to hear. I rather suspect that Gosper found himself confronted by a set of circumstances and competing expectations that he was unable to master – a failure for which he is ultimately responsible. However, even good people make disastrous decisions – and sometimes do so for reasons that they cannot even fully explain to themselves.
Given this, I think that there is more than a touch of irony in the fact that Kevin Gosper's lapse of judgement should have occurred at Olympia. For, in a very real sense, Gosper brought to life the archetypal form of the fatally flawed hero of ancient Greek tragedy. We see, in figures like Sophocles' Oedipus and Creon, men who have been ensnared by the Fates in an inevitable sequence of events that will lead to their own ruin. Yet, at the same time, it is the flaws in their own characters that work the worst mischief.
It is probably worth noting that, for the Ancient Greeks, the greatest vice of all was hybris – an overweening pride that welds a man to his own opinion, even before the Gods. Pride (perhaps even a father's pride) is a character flaw that can make people blind to what is obvious to everyone else – leading them to do things that are even contrary to self-interest. It is this combination of inevitability and personal responsibility that makes ancient Greek tragedy so compelling. The chief characters are neither all ‘good’ or all 'bad". So, for the ancient Greeks, there was nothing strange in the sight of more or less good men making bad decisions – and then suffering the terrible consequences that this usually entailed.
To see how closely Gosper's recent experience mirrors the plot for an ancient Greek tragedy – consider this. He begins by being instrumental in establishing the IOC Ethics Commission – a body charged with overseeing a process to ensure the highest standards within the Olympic Movement. In an initial twist of fate, Gosper is the first person to be investigated by the Commission!
As we now know, Gosper was due to be completely exonerated by the IOC Ethics Commission – removing any taint from his reputation. Yet, in a second twist of fate and with only days to go, he participated in the debacle at Olympia – perhaps destroying his prospects to succeed Juan Antonio Samaranch in the IOC's top job.
One of the features of our modern, moral universe is that we no longer have the same belief in the overwhelming power of Fate. Most believe that it is possible for people – especially those in positions of power – to make real and sensible choices about the kind of lives they lead. If this were not so, if everything really was predestined, then there would be no basis for the kind of personal responsibility that is the cornerstone of modern life. Without genuine choice, talk of free will, justice and moral culpability would be quite impossible.
In this sense, Kevin Gosper has shown himself to be a modern man rather than a figure from Ancient Greek tragedy, for he recognises that he is not bound by Fate, that he could have made a different decision, in Olympia, and regrets that he failed to do so.
The real challenge, then, is to find ways in which people like Gosper can be better equipped to make sound decisions – especially when operating under intense pressure. The IOC Ethics Commission was originally conceived as a tool to assist in this process. First and foremost, it was supposed to be a body equipped with the skills to promote ‘good’ ethics rather than simply fix 'bad' ethics. Yet, to date, it has failed to meet expectations and move beyond being a quasi-judicial tribunal.
As the recent experience of Kevin Gosper has so eloquently demonstrated, the IOC holds its fate in its own hands. Its decision on the future role of the IOC Ethics Commission is then, first and foremost, a crucial test of its character.
discuss this articleDr Simon Longstaff is Executive Director of St James Ethics Centre.
A version of this article was published in The Australian on 17 May 2000.
© St James Ethics Centre